> > I've lost 40 lbs (15% of my starting weight) and lowered my blood
> > pressure considerably loosely following a common-sense low-carb diet
> > (cutting out all soda, obvious starchy/sugary food and increasing
> > animal protein), but I've plateaued for several months and still have
> > about 30 lbs to go...so it's time to take it a step further.  I'm
> > taking  a closer look at what I eat and need a bit of help better
> > understanding how I can translate/condense what's given on a
> > Nutritional Facts lable into something more useful for me.

> > Cals and how many Cals come from fat are easy to find, but then they
> > list Carbs and Protein in grams, which is great and all, but I'd love
> > to know how many Cals come from Carbs and Proteins too.  I doubt
> > there's a standard formula for this (though that would be great), but
> > even a rule-of-thumb would be handy.

> Actually there is a standard formula.   Fat is 9cal/gram, protein and
> carb are 4cal/gram.   It's also generally accepted that fiber does not
> get metabolized as a carb, so you can deduct fiber from the carb
> count.   So, in the USA if a label lists 10g of carb, 4 fiber, you
> would only count 6g as carb as part of a lc plan.   If you add up the
> counts on labels they usually come out close, but not exactly due to
> rounding and the way the numbers are actually calculated.   Sometimes
> however you will find labels that don't add up and are a real mystery.

> Another source of info is the USDA nutritional database which is
> available online.  They have all the common vegetables, raw foods, etc
> as well as many prepared foods.

> Congratulations on your success.